Saturday, June 26, 2010

Not EVE Saturday: Minecraft

Yes most of this is copypasta brought to you by doomish from the facepunch message boards but I have company this weekend and not a lot of time on the computer. I do have one thing to say about this game though, and that is that it's the only game that I can play regularly aside from EVE and that is saying a lot.


About
MineCraft is a game developed by Markus Persson, also known as Notch. It was started on the May 10, 2009. It's a 3D block based game created in Java, meaning it is run in a browser. It's currently free, but for custom skins and the new games modes, you will have to pay 10 Euros, or whatever the equivalent in dollars is. The price will double when the game is closer to fruition.

Single Player
You click single player on the front page and the level is generated, you have deep seas, sandy beaches and rolling hills. Huge cave complex's and beneath your feet, ready for exploration. It auto generates forests and other features. As you stroll through the many valleys, you wonder, where are the houses? You right click and to place blocks, press B and you change which block you are using! And you can set all the blocks from 1-9, then use the keys to select each one. You build yourself houses and fortresses using glass, wood and stone. Fun?
However, if you have bought the game, you'll gain access to Indev and Infdev. They both have the same goal: survival! You are stranded in the middle of nowhere and you need to survive (obviously). Cut trees to get wood, which is used for a variety of tools. In the day, sheep and pigs will spawn, which can also be used for food and cloth! However, when night falls, evil monsters appear which are ready to make your experience of Minecraft a lot scarier! Build huge castles and underground system to protect yourself from these monsters and dominate the forsaken land of creepers, spiders, zombies and skeletons!

Now, the difference between Indev and Infdev is that Infdev uses an infinite map system. Indev maps have a fixed boundary while Infdev maps don't. You can keep walking on forever in Infdev! By the way, the level generator in Infdev is a lot more interesting than Indev's, so just play Infdev for now!

Multiplayer
This is where the fun with other players kicks in, you join up on the server. Bang in front of you are people all around, grand structures being built. Some of it is truly awe inspiring, you get lost in the maze of buildings, murals and towers. Want to build a Megastructure? Now you can do it with friends, meaning you can make it twice as epic in the same amount of time it would of taken you alone.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

On Flippers and Ninjas

My official stance on can flippers and ninja salvagers is to completely ignore them. Do not talk to them in local period! Crying in local is their fuel, TEARS is their rocket fuel.

Although very similar, they do have different characteristics that need to be dealt with in their own separate way.

Ninja Salvagers:

I consider these to be the worst of the two as there isn't much you can do to them. There is one thing a lot of pilots don't seem to realize though, that does take the pain away when dealing with them. They make very little money! Too many mission runners rush to their missions upon hearing their wrecks are being salvaged by a third party. They try to get to all of their precious large wrecks before the ninja. What a waste of time! What they should do is move on to the next mission. I can guarantee doing another mission will be more profitable than whatever the ninja picks up. Instead of racing with a ninja (who will almost always have a faster ship) picking up only half the wrecks, a mission will give bounties, rewards/LP, and not to mention loot and salvage that the ninja will be to preoccupied with the previous mission to salvage. If revenge is still in the air while doing the next mission an eye can be kept on local for a slip up; he gets the red skull then it's time to strike.

Important note: Remember salvaging is NOT a crime; “if he doesn't loot: you don't shoot”

Can Flippers:

Now these guys are a little more fun. I have a bit more respect for flippers than ninjas as they are more brave as taking stuff from your can allows you to shoot at them and what not. The easiest way to deal with them is to have a hauler. An Orca works best as it can be dumped straight into like a can, completely detouring any possibility of being flipped. However, sometimes a hauler isn't present, in which case it's best to be in an alliance with a pvp corp in it. Have a member in the pvp corp drop one unit of ammo and dispense the ore into that can, if a flipper takes from it then let the games begin. Now, what to do if there are no haulers and no pvp corp? Nothing. Until you join a mining corp with some pvp friends, expect your ore to get stolen with little to no recourse. Sure, you do have that Rifter fit up with meta 2 gear ready to go. It's a great idea to use that, right? He's only in a Tristan right? No! Only the noob flippers use their flipping ship to engage a real target. Count on them using something bigger and better. Now if you're an older character with a fully meta 5 or better fit Dramiel it's a different story, but you probably already knew that.

The cold shoulder works best for both of these guys. They are not in it for the money. They are in it for the fight and the almost guaranteed TEARS they get to drink afterwords. Do not give them a fight, do not give them the TEARS, do not give them the satisfaction.

Comments Questions and Criticisms are always welcome.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

20 Years Ago...

...I was Born. Happy Birthday to me \o/
Happy Fathers Day as well.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Not EVE Saturday: My disappointment in E3 2010

This is not a synopsis of E3. If that's what you came for look else where.

E3 is never an exciting time for me, mainly because I'm not much of a console player. This year it's even worse. I know I don't have any subscribers yet so asking a question seems somewhat pointless, but when I do have some readers, and they link back to this post I hope they can answer me. Are there ANY original ideas in this years E3?


Let's go down the line:

PC: Portal 2, Starwars Old Republic, Crysis 2 Fallout New Vegas.

Xbox 360: Kinect, Halo Reach, Call of Duty Black Ops, The Force Unleashed 2, Gears of War 3, F.E.A.R. 3.(I know I didn't get everything here but you get the dea)

PS3: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Killzone 3, Gran Turismo 5, inFAMOUS 2, LitteBigPlanet 2 Marver Vs Capcom 3 FTW.(Again you get the idea)

Nintendo: I'm not even going to bother.


I see less numbers in my math class. It really is a shame. I grew up with SNES, Sega Genesis then N64, PlayStaion, and DreamCast not to mention the slew of awesome games on the PC. (when FPSes were new) Everywhere I turned there was a new creative game. Every time I blew into a cartridge and slammed it into my system I knew I could count on a completely new experience that would widen my eyes, and keep me glued to my couch. The lack of creativity at this years E3 on the other hand, makes me fear another video game crash. The only question is what will be our “NES”?

It's not all bad news however. Just because there are no original games doesn't mean there are no gems in this cornucopia of sequels.


Here's a video list of what intrigues me this year:

Comments Questions and Criticisms are always welcome.

Friday, June 18, 2010

My First Day


The achievement of one goal should be the starting point of another.

Alexander Graham Bell





If you asked me when I started EVE Online (a short four months ago) If I would ever have wanted to blog about it I would have responded “Hell NO!”. Rambling on about a video game just doesn't seem very interesting when you first think about it. As I'm sure we all know however, things change. When I combine my interest in writing, teaching, and sharing my opinion it makes a whole lot more sense.


As made obvious by the title this is my first post (and yes I like Scrubs) and while I don't expect or want a ton of readers I would enjoy it if I helped or entertained a handful of players. This wont be an easy task as according to CrazyKinux there are over 500 to choose to read!


Why read mine?:

I'll make it as interesting as possible. I PVP regularly, have a mining alt and am starting a trading alt soon. One of them should do something worth reading once a week.


My opinions are harsh but just. The one thing that surprised me the most about EVE was the politicking. In the three and a half months I've been in my alliance I've seen more drama then when I was in high-school. I have plenty of opinions on the subjects brought up on a day to day basis on voice comms, but no way to express them as I'm too far down the corporate ladder. This will be my place to vent from the big (CCP's Expansions) to the small (Non classified corp drama).


About me:


EVE character: SailorBacon


In real life I'm in my second year of college studying to be a teacher. In EVE I am still in diapers. My real life need to teach reflects itself onto EVE as I cant help myself but to teach the noobs in the recruitment corp of my alliance. Although I am only entering my fifth month of EVE, I do have plenty to teach a newcomer. Before I started the trial I had given evelopedia a thorough reading, I had subscribed to the EVE blog pack (which I hope to be on one day), and had read most of the articles on the EVE university website. With this wealth of information I got a great start from the day SailorBacon was born and I recommend that any newer player should exploit every resource possible.


About the Blog:


As I said it will be updated regularly; at least twice a week. One post relating directly to EVE and one about anything else on “Not EVE Saturday” (creative huh?). If you like what you see please be sure to subscribe and advertise it to your friends.

Comments Questions and Criticisms are always welcome.